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Before  You  Begin 


ALEXANDER  HAMILTON  INSTITUTE 


Before  You  Begin 


How  to  use  the  Modern 

Business/Course  and 

Service 


ALEXANDER  HAMILTON  INSTITUTE 

Astor  Place        -  -        New  York 

Canadian  Address,  C.  P.  R.  Building,  Toronto;  Australian  Address, 
42  Hunter  St.,  Sydney 

Copyright  1921,  Alexander  Hamilton  Institute 


MTU 


•  '       »  • 


Before  you  begin 

How  to  Use  the  Modern  Business  Course  and 
Service  of  the  Alexander  Hamilton  Institute. 


Read     "VTOUR    first    interest,    naturally,    as    a 
this         1  subscriber  to   the   MODERN   BUSINESS 
now       COURSE  and  SERVICE,  is  to  learn  exactly 
what  it  is  and  how  to  use  it. 

That  is  easily  understood.  Let  us  begin  with  the 
material. 

When  the  Texts  arrive  at  your  home,  take  them 
out  of  the  fiber  box  at  once  and  set  them  up  on 
the  table  where  you  can  look  at  them.  Run  over 
the  titles  on  the  backs  of  the  volumes,  in  their  order 
so  as  to  get  an  idea  of  the  range  of  information 
covered.  Then  open  them  up  one  by  one  and  take 
a  glance  at  the  matter  within.  Do  this  before  be- 
ginning to  read  systematically;  you  will  find  it  will 
be  time  well  spent. 

The  quickest  and  best  way  of  getting  acquainted 
with  each  volume  is  to  pick  out  the  table  of  contents 
at  the  front  of  it  and  read  the  chapter  headings,  as 
well  as  some  of  the  sectional  titles  below.  After 
this,  turn  over  to  the  back  of  the  book  and  run  thru 
the  index.  These  two  features  will  give  you  a  very 
good  notion  of  what  you  are  to  get  out  of  the  Texts 
and  show  how  conveniently  they  may  be  consulted. 

3 

M147566 


Course  TT1HE  Texts,  as  you  will  see,  are  the 
in  JL  backbone  of  the  Course  and  Service ; 

brief  they  furnish  a  complete  organized  treat- 
ment of  business  principles  and  practice. 
Packed  with  them  will  come  the  first  of  the  semi- 
monthly Talks  and  monthly  Lectures.  The  Talks 
will  guide  your  reading  and  quicken  your  interest 
in  it.  The  Lectures  will  put  you  in  touch  with  the 
special  ideas  and  methods  of  some  of  the  leading 
business  and  professional  men  in  the  country. 

Before  you  have  finished  reading  the  first  volume 
of  the  Text,  a  third  kind  of  pamphlet  will  reach 
you.  This  will  be  a  Problem  describing  a  concrete 
business  situation,  such  as  you  already  or  may  later 
deal  with.  Its  object  is  to  test  your  judgment. 
There  is  a  Problem  for  each  Text. 

So  much  for  business  principles  and  practices.  As 
to  current  business  happenings  and  the  trend  of 
future  business  movements  you  will  be  kept  in- 
formed thru  a  Monthly  Letter  and  a  monthly 
Financial  and  Trade  Review.  Four  Modern  Busi- 
ness Reports  on  important  phases  or  methods  of 
business  will  be  sent  to  you  as  soon  as  you  select 
them  from  the  List  furnished  with  the  Texts. 

Last,  a  personal  Service  of  information  will  be  sup- 
plied in  answer  to  all  inquiries  in  connection  with 
the  reading  of  the  Course. 


Why  you  FT!  HE  manner  in  which  the  Texts 
should  read  _I_  and  pamphlets  are  arranged  is 
in  order  not  accidental.  It  has  a  sound  ped- 

agogical basis.  Just  as  in  any  uni- 
versity or  college  course,  the  fundamental  and  easy 
subjects  come  first  and  afterward  those  more  dif- 
ficult and  highly  specialized.  The  later  books  and 
booklets  consequently  depend  on  the  preceding  ones 
for  complete  clearness  and  interest.  "Advertising 
Principles"  prepares  you  for  "Advertising  Cam- 
paigns;" "Business  Organization"  leads  you  into 
"Corporation  Finance;"  and  "Plant  Management" 
and  "Accounting  Principles"  make  it  possible  for 
you  thoroly  to  understand  "Cost  Finding."  The 
order  of  arrangement  is  therefore  important.  You 
will  get  the  quickest  and  best  results  by  following  it. 

One  of  the  first  things  you  will  probably  do  when 
the  Texts  reach  you  is  to  look  up  the  subjects  with 
which  you  are  familiar.  That  is  a  good  idea. 

Bear  in  mind,  however,  that  the  Course  is  designed 
to  tell  you,  not  what  you  already  know,  but  what  you 
don't  know.  If  you  are  an  accountant,  of  course 
the  Texts  on  that  subject  will  not  tell  much  that  is 
new  to  you.  Yet,  for  that  very  reason,  provided 
your  business  knowledge  does  not  go  much  beyond 
strict  accounting,  the  other  subjects  of  the  Course 
are  going  to  open  up  to  you  whole  new  regions  of 
practical  possibilities.  And  the  other  readers  who 
know  little  or  nothing  about  accounting — such  as 
many  advertising  managers,  agents  and  solicitors, 
salesmen,  purchasing  agents,  retail  merchants  and 
professional  men — will  find  a  great  deal  of  useful 

5 


information  awaiting  them  in  the  accounting  Texts, 
the  information  they  need  to  make  them  better 
all-round  business  executives. 

Ten  pages  riiHE  Course  is  laid  out  for  two 
of  the  Text  JL  years'  convenient  reading.  Each 
a  day  Text  has  been  kept  at  about  300 

pages  so  as  to  be  covered  in  30 
days — ten  pages  a  day.  This  can  readily  be  done, 
even  with  the  Talks  and  Lectures,  which  you  may 
read  almost  as  quickly  as  you  can  your  daily  news- 
paper. Answering  the  Problems  will  call  for  a  few 
extra  hours  a  month. 

At  the  head  rTlHE  Course  and  Service  is  un- 
of  the  JL  der  the  general  supervision  of 

Institute  the  head  of  the  largest  University 

School  of  Commerce  in  the  United 
States,  Dean  Joseph  French  Johnson,  and  the 
sponsorship  of  an  Advisory  Council,  consisting,  be- 
sides Dean  Johnson,  of  Frank  A.  Vanderlip,  the 
financier;  General  T.  Coleman  du  Pont,  the  busi- 
ness executive;  John  Hays  Hammond,  the  eminent 
engineer;  and  Dr.  Jeremiah  W.  Jenks,  the  statis- 
tician and  economist. 

Reason      HH  HE   Institute   bears    the    name    of 

for  the       JL  Alexander  Hamilton  because,  among 

name          the  honored  fathers  of  our  nation,  he 

stood  preeminent  for  his  business  sagacity. 

Hamilton  is  perhaps  chiefly  remembered  for  his 
masterly  statesmanship;  but  he  was  equally  con- 

6 


spicuous  as  soldier,  financier,  author,  organizer  and 
practical  economist. 

He  was  without  doubt  the  greatest  manager  ever 
employed  by  the  United  States  Government.  When 
he  became  the  first  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  he 
found  a  chaotic  government,  without  money,  with- 
out credit,  and  without  organization.  He  secured 
order,  provided  funds  and  created  prosperity.  He 
investigated  the  industries  and  directed  the  early 
commercial  development  of  the  United  States.  "He 
touched  the  dead  corpse  of  the  public  credit,  and 
it  sprang  upon  its  feet.  He  smote  the  rock  of  the 
nation's  resources  and  abundant  streams  of  revenue 
gushed  forth." 

Hamilton  was  a  great  executive  and  systematizer  ; 
he  himself  worked  out  an  accounting  system  for  the 
United  States  Government  which,  with  but  slight 
modifications,  remained  in  force  for  more  than  a 
hundred  years. 


COPYRIGHT    1921,    BY 
ALEXANDER   HAMILTON   INSTITUTE 

A  SURVEY  OF  MODERN  BUSINESS  SCIENCE 

All  business  activities  may  be  classified  under  Production, 
Marketing,  Financing  and  Accounting.  For  purposes  of 
systematic  study,  each  of  these  may  be  subdivided  as 
shown  above. 

In  addition,  there  are  two  important  forces  which  control 
business — Man  and  Government.  For  that  reason  a  dis- 
cussion of  the  relation  between  "Business  and  the  Man"  and 
"Business  and  the  Government"  naturally  forms  a  part  of 
the  survey  of  modern  business.  The  first  two  and  the  last 
two  assignments  in  the  Modern  Business  Course  and  Service 
cover  these  important  subjects. 

8 


Modern  Business  Course 
and  Service 

in  detail 


Texts 

The  Text  volumes  are  sufficiently  described  by  their 
titles  and  their  authors,  as  follows : 

Business  and  the  Man  Volume  1 

By  JOSEPH  FRENCH  JOHNSON,  D.C.S.,  LL.D., 
Dean  of  New  York  University  School  of  Com- 
merce, Accounts  and  Finance;  President  of  the 
Alexander  Hamilton  Institute. 

Economics — the  Science  of  Business      Volume  2 
By  JOSEPH  FRENCH  JOHNSON,  D.C.S.,  LL.D. 

Business  Organization  Volume  3 

By  CHARLES  W.  GERSTENBERG,  Ph.B.,  LL.B.,  Pro- 
fessor of  Finance,  and  Head  of  the  Department 
of  Finance,  New  York  University  School  of 
Commerce,  in  collaboration  with  WALTER  S. 
JOHNSON,  B.A.,  B.C.L.,  Member  of  the  Bar  of 
the  Province  of  Quebec;  Lecturer  on  Railway 
and  Constitutional  Law,  McGill  University. 

Plant  Management  Volume  4 

By  DEXTER  S.  KIMBALL,  A.B.,  M.E.,  Professor  of 
Industrial  Engineering  and  Dean  of  the  College 
of  Engineering,  Cornell  University. 

9 


Marketing  and  Merchandising  Volume  5 

Prepared  by  the  Alexander  Hamilton  Institute  in 
collaboration  with  RALPH  STARR  BUTLER,  A.B., 
Advertising  Manager  of  the  United  States  Rub- 
ber Company,*  and  JOHN  B.  SWINNEY,  A.  B., 
Superintendent  of  Merchandising,  Winchester 
Stores. 

Salesmanship  and  Sales  Management      Volume  6 

By  JOHN  G.  JONES,  Vice-President  and  Director 
of  Sales  and  Advertising,  Alexander  Hamilton 
Institute. 

Advertising  Principles  Volume  7 

By  HERBERT  F.  DEBOWER,  LL.B.,  Vice-President 
and  Chairman  of  the  Executive  Committee,  Alex- 
ander Hamilton  Institute. 

Office  Administration  Volume  8 

By  GEOFFREY  S.  GUILDS,  B.C.S.,  Office  Manager, 
Alexander  Hamilton  Institute. 

Accounting  Principles  Volume  9 

By  FREDERIC  E.  REEVE,  C.P.A.  (N.  Y.),  and 
FREDERICK  C.  RUSSELL,  Controller,  Alexander 
Hamilton  Institute. 

Credit  and  Collections  Volume  10 

By  DWIGHT  E.  BEEBE,  B.L.,  Director  of  Service, 
Alexander  Hamilton  Institute,  and  T.  VASSAR 
MORTON,  Litt.B.,  Bursar,  Alexander  Hamilton 
Institute. 

Business  Correspondence  Volume  11 

By  CHARLES  W.  KURD,  Associate  Editor,  Alex- 
ander Hamilton  Institute,  in  collaboration  with 
BRUCE  BARTON,  Author  and  Publicist. 

10 


Cost  Finding  Volume  12 

By  DEXTER  S.  KIMBALL,  A.B.,  M.E.,  Professor 
of  Industrial  Engineering  and  Dean  of  the  Col- 
lege of  Engineering,  Cornell  University. 

Advertising  Campaigns  Volume  13 

By  MAC  MARTIN,  President  of  the  Mac  Martin 
Advertising  Agency. 

Corporation  Finance  Volume  14 

By  WILLIAM  H.  WALKER,  LL.D.,  Dean  of 
Duquesne  University  School  of  Accounts,  Finance 
and  Commerce. 

Transportation  Volume  15 

By  EDWIN  J.  CLAPP,  Ph.D.,  formerly  professor 
of  Economics,  New  York  University 

Foreign  Trade  and  Shipping  Volume  16 

By  J.  ANTON  DEHAAS,  Ph.D.,  Professor  of  For- 
eign Trade,  New  York  University. 

Banking  Volume  17 

By  MAJOR  B.  FOSTER,  M.A.,  Assistant  to  the 
Executive  Committee,  Alexander  Hamilton  In- 
stitute, and  Assistant  Professor  of  Economics, 
New  York  University  School  of  Commerce,  in 
collaboration  with  JESSE  H.  RIDDLE,  formerly 
with  the  Federal  Reserve  Bank  of  New  York. 

International  Exchange  Volume  18 

Prepared  by  the  Alexander  Hamilton  Institute  in 
collaboration  with  E.  L.  STEWART  PATTERSON, 
Superintendent  of  the  Eastern  Townships 
Branches,  Canadian  Bank  of  Commerce. 

11 


Insurance  Volume  19 

Prepared  by  the  Alexander  Hamilton  Institute,  in 
collaboration  with  EDWARD  R.  HARDY,  Ph.B.,  Lec- 
turer on  Fire  Insurance,  New  York  University 
School  of  Commerce,  Assistant  Manager,  New 
York  Fire  Insurance  Exchange;  S.  S.  HUEBNER, 
Ph.D.,  Professor  of  Insurance,  University  of 
Pennsylvania;  G.  F.  MICHELBACHER,  M.A., 
Actuary  of  the  National  Workmen's  Compensa- 
tion Service  Bureau;  and  BRUCE  D.  MUDGETT, 
Ph.D.,  Associate  Professor  of  Economics,  Uni- 
versity of  Minnesota. 

The  Stock  and  Produce  Exchanges        Volume  20 

By  ALBERT  W.  ATWOOD,  A.B.,  Associate  in  Jour- 
nalism, Columbia  University. 

Accounting  Practice  and  Auditing         Volume  21 

By  JOHN  THOMAS  MADDEN,  B.C.S.,  C.P.A. 
(N.Y.),  Professor  of  Accounting  and  Assistant 
Dean  of  the  New  York  University  School  of 
Commerce. 

Financial  and  Business  Statements       Volume  22 

By  LEO  GREENDLINGER,  M.C.S.,  C.P.A.  (N.Y.), 
Secretary  and  Treasurer,  Alexander  Hamilton 
Institute;  formerly  Assistant  Professor  of  Ac- 
counting, New  York  University  School  of  Com- 
merce. 

Investments  Volume  23 

By  EDWARD  D.  JONES,  Ph.D.,  formerly  Professor 
of  Commerce  and  Industry,  University  of  Mich- 
igan. 

12 


Business  and  Government  Volume  24 

By  JEREMIAH  W.  JENKS,  Ph.D.,  LL.D.,  Research 
Professor  of  Government  and  Public  Adminis- 
tration, New  York  University,  Member  of  Ad- 
visory Council  and  Chairman  of  the  Board,  Alex- 
ander Hamilton  Institute,  in  collaboration  with 
JOHN  HAYS  HAMMOND,  consulting  engineer  and 
publicist. 

Talks 

The  first  object  of  the  Talks  is  to  guide  the  sub- 
scriber. Each  Talk  tells  him  exactly  what  he  should 
read  during  the  current  period — first  this  Talk,  then 
so  many  pages  in  the  Text,  and  also  the  accom- 
panying Lecture  or  Problem.  But  the  Talk  has 
another  purpose.  Its  popular  and  practical  treat- 
ment of  principles  and  methods  prepares  the  reader 
for  the  Text  assignment  and  whets  his  appetite  for 
it.  The  Texts  are  reasonably  easy  reading,  if  taken 
in  order,  but  the  Talks  are  still  easier.  The  follow- 
ing extract  from  the  middle  of  Talk  No.  3  on  "The 
Market  Value  of  Brains"  illustrates  why : 

Lincoln  laughed.  He  went  over  to  a  bookcase  and 
ran  his  eye  over  the  shelves.  Then  he  picked  out  a 
volume  and  slapped  it  down  on  the  desk. 


Putney  leafed  over  the  pages  of  the  book.  "  'Mar- 
ginal utility !'  "  he  snorted.  "  Tsychic  income !' 
Help!  Police!  'Value'— value  of  what?  The  rea- 
son why  I  am  down  on  all  this  stuff,  Dave,  is  be- 
cause it's  so  confoundedly  vague.  Why  can't  they 
talk  United  States?" 

"They  are  doing  the  best  they  can,  Ralph,"  said 
Lincoln.  "Read  it  thru  and  see  how  much  more 

13 


precise  you  can  be.  Do  you  know,  old  man,  that 
you're  as  sentimental  as  a  girl  about  your  little  old 
routine?  You  want  things  to  stay  just  as  they  are. 
But  they  don't.  Economic  forces  keep  on  working. 
They  won't  let  you  alone.  You  thought  all  that  was 
necessary  for  your  advancement  was  for  you  to 
make  a  big  showing  in  your  department.  But  eco- 
nomic forces  were  all  the  time  making  it  necessary 
for  the  company  to  have  an  executive  of  a  big, 
broad  type,  and  you  didn't  fit,  and  so  you  are  pock- 
eted in  your  old  job.  But  you  got  what  you  went 
after,  didn't  you  ?  You  didn't  really  try  for  the  big 
chair.  What  you  qualified  for  was  a  half-way-up 
job.  If  you  wanted  to  go  all  the  way  up,  you 
should  have  worked  with  the  economic  forces." 

"What  do  you  mean  by  economic  forces?" 

"Just  human  nature  in  buying  and  selling — the  rea- 
sons why  people  want  this  and  don't  want  that,  and 
why  this  is  cheap  and  that  dear,  and  why  wages  are 
high  or  low,  and  so  forth." 

"Is  that  economics?" 

Lectures 

Every  Lecture  is  by  some  well-known  business  ex- 
ecutive, accountant,  or  publicist  and  reflects  his 
experience  in  handling  business  problems.  They 
cover  many  different  lines  of  business.  If  any  one 
of  these  men  were  to  drop  in  on  you  for  a  brief 
business  visit  you  would  feel  like  locking  the  office 
door  to  keep  everybody  else  out  in  order  not  to  miss 
a  syllable  of  the  information  he  might  give  you. 
For  example,  hear  Herbert  S.  Collins,  one  of  the 
founders  and  officers  of  the  United  Cigar  Stores 

Company  and  the  United  Retail  Stores  Corporation : 

14 


Each  day's  business  in  a  United  Cigar  Store  is  a 
unit  by  itself,  but  at  intervals  of  seven,  fourteen 
and  twenty-one  days  and  at  the  end  of  the  month, 
the  general  office  knows  what  shipments  have  gone 
to  each  store  in  every  line  of  goods.  Reports  of 
receipts  are  transmitted  to  the  general  office  every 
day  and  are  compiled  for  quick  reference.  At  three 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon  of  every  week  day  each 
store  deposits  its  receipts  in  a  bank  designated  for 
the  purpose — a  sufficient  amount  for  the  change 
being,  of  course,  retained.  This  course  is  followed 
in  every  one  of  the  250  cities  in  which  the  Company 
operates  stores.  In  compiling  the  records  of  the 
store,  separate  account  is  kept  of  sales  of  cigars  by 
the  piece  and  by  the  box. 

Every  price  in  United  Cigar  Stores  is  effective  only 
after  authorization  by  the  auditing  department,  in 
order  that  the  monthly  inventories  may  be  kept 
straight.  These  inventories  are  taken  by  crews  of 
trained  men  who,  after  setting  down  the  figures, 
have  the  report  in  each  case  verified  by  the  signa- 
ture of  the  store  sales  manager.  These  inventories 
are  really  the  test  of  the  efficiency  of  store  sales 
managers  as  storekeepers.  The  system  is  believed 
to  be  a  well-nigh  perfect  safeguard  both  against 
carelessness  and  dishonesty  in  store  management. 

Problems 

"How  much  has  the  reading  of  the  Course  improved 
my  business  judgment?"  You  will  get  a  very  def- 
inite idea  of  that  by  putting  yourself  in  the  place 
of  the  executive  pictured  in  each  Problem  and  see- 
ing how  you  would  deal  with  the  difficulty  that  con- 
fronts him.  It  is  not  obligatory  upon  you  to  submit 
a  solution,  but  it  will  undoubtedly  be  worth  while 

15 


putting  your  understanding  to  the  test.  At  the  same 
time  it  will  make  your  reading  a  good  deal  more  in- 
teresting. The  opening  of  Problem  No.  3,  "From 
Partnership  to  Corporation/1  will  give  you  an  idea 
why  this  is  so : 

A  disagreement  caused  by  a  decided  and  apparently 
irreconcilable  difference  of  opinion  with  regard  to 
the  policy  of  the  firm  has  suggested  a  dissolution  of 
the  partnership  of  Easton,  Parker  and  Hillard,  for 
eight  years  engaged  in  the  fruit  preserving  business 
in  central  New  York  State.  Parker,  who  is  twenty- 
nine  years  old  and  the  youngest  of  the  three,  is  a 
keen,  aggressive  and  able  business  man,  but  his 
youth,  as  well  as  the  fact  that  his  financial  interest 
is  smallest,  has,  until  recently,  kept  him  in  the  back- 
ground. Easton  is  the  senior  member,  but  advanc- 
ing age  has  lessened  his  active  participation  in  the 
conduct  of  the  business.  However,  he  is  strongly 
opposed  to  certain  changes  in  factory  organization 
and  marketing  methods  which  Parker  believes  to  be 
essential  to  the  future  success  of  the  business.  Hil- 
lard— Miss  Josephine  Hillard — contributed  a  good 
share  of  the  original  capital  but  is  taking  no  active 
part  in  the  business.  In  all  questions  that  arise  she 
sides  with  Easton,  in  whose  judgment  she  has  im- 
plicit confidence. 

Easton  is  urged  by  his  family  to  retire  from  active 
business,  and  Parker  is  anxious  to  be  set  free  from 
a  partnership  relation  that  to  him  is  becoming  more 
and  more  irksome.  It  has  been  suggested  to  Parker 
that  if  he  could  make  such  arrangements  with  his 
associates  as  would  permit  him  to  organize  a  cor- 
poration and  secure  for  himself  control  and  man- 
agement of  the  business,  it  might  be  to  his  advan- 
tage to  do  so. 

The  problem  then  goes  on  to  outline  the  financial 

16 


condition  the  business  is  in.  The  questions  which 
come  later  indicate  the  practical  value  of  the  knowl- 
edge that  can  provide  the  answers  to  them : 

1.  What  are  the  immediate  financial  demands  for 
which  Parker  must  provide  if  he  takes  over  the 
partnership  and  forms  the  corporation? 

2.  What  are  Parker's  available  sources  of  funds  and 
which  of  these  can  he  use  expediently  in  view  of  his 
own  financial  responsibility  and  the  future  welfare 
of  the  business? 

3.  Considering  separately  the  elements  of  income, 
control,  and  risk,  and  taking  into  account  also  the 
past  and  prospective  earning  power  of  the  business, 
could  Parker  prudently  undertake  the  financing  of 
the  enterprise? 

When  you  submit  a  solution,  it  will  receive  individ- 
ual attention,  be  graded  and  returned  to  you  with  a 
memorandum  of  comment  and  a  copy  of  the  Insti- 
tute's solution. 

Reports 

On  most  of  the  subjects,  outside  of  your  own  kind 
of  work,  you  require  a  minimum  of  necessary  in- 
formation ;  every  page  of  repetition  that  is  excluded 
is  so  much  gain.  But  on  your  own  subject  and 
occasionally  on  other  subjects  you  want  additional, 
detailed  data.  These  are  given  in  Reports.  The 
Reports  are  written  by  professional  and  trade  ex- 
perts and  members  of  the  Institute  Staff,  and  cover 
both  important  business  problems  of  general  inter- 
est and  technical  subjects  relating  to  Accounting, 

17 


Sales,  Office  Methods,  Merchandising,  Production 
and  other  specialized  departments  of  business 
method. 

A  descriptive  list  of  the  Reports  will  be  furnished 
to  you  with  the  Texts.  From  it  at  any  time  during 
the  two-year  period  of  your  enrolment  you  may 
choose  the  four  Reports  to  which  you  are  entitled. 
Other  Reports  are  obtainable  at  a  stated  charge. 

The  Reports  run  from  ten  to  fifty  pages  in  length. 
Each  one  is  prepared  with  reference  to  some  spe- 
cific method  or  phase  of  business  and  is  the  result 
of  special  investigation.  The  subjects  cover  a  wide 
field,  and  every  subscriber  will  find  among  them  a 
number  which  are  of  particular  interest  to  him. 

The  list  of  Reports  includes  such  titles  as  "Prep- 
aration for  the  Accounting  Profession,"  "Profit- 
Sharing,"  "Territorial  Supervision  of  Salesmen," 
and  "Memory  Training." 

Letter  on  General  Business  Conditions  and 
Financial  and  Trade  Review 

Current  fTlHE  Text,  as  we  have  said,  gives 

information  JL  you  the  principles  of  business. 
And  it  shows  that  you  cannot  apply 
them  in  any  offhand  or  cut-and-dried  fashion,  but 
have  to  adapt  them  to  circumstances.  The  most 
important  of  these  circumstances,  very  often,  are 
the  prevailing  conditions  of  trade  and  finance.  How 
is  business  going  to  be  three  months  from  now  ? 
Will  money  be  cheaper,  or  dear?  Are  commodity 
prices  moving  up,  or  down  ?  Will  the  labor  supply 

13 


be  ample,  or  short?  Every  executive  has  a  vital 
interest  in  knowing  these  things. 

Some  of  the  needed  information  you  will  get  in  the 
financial  pages  of  the  daily  newspapers,  somewhat 
unsystematically  presented  and  mixed  with  much 
guess  and  gossip.  The  Institute  gives  you  all  the 
vital  business  news  of  the  moment,  carefully  di- 
gested and  interpreted,  in  two  kinds  of  monthly 
bulletins.  One  is  issued  at  the  beginning  of  the 
month  and  one  in  the  middle,  so  that  your  contact 
is  really  at  fortnightly  intervals.  The  first  of  the 
bulletins  is  the  Monthly  Letter  on  general  business 
conditions ;  the  other  is  the  Financial  and  Trade  Re- 
view. Both  Bulletins  are  issued  by  our  Bureau  of 
Business  Conditions. 

Carefully  digested  and  interpreted,  we  said.  There 
is  seldom  any  difference  of  opinion  among  careful 
observers  as  to  the  trend  of  business  at  a  given  time. 
They  may  not  agree  as  to  how  soon  a  turn  is  com- 
ing or  how  extreme  it  will  be,  but  they  will  usually 
take  the  same  views  as  to  the  broad,  general  ten- 
dency. It  is  not  difficult  to  learn  what  these  views 
are  if  you  study  the  markets  for  yourself  and  famil- 
iarize yourself  with  the  views  and  the  reasons  for 
them. 

Unless  you  have  had  considerable  business  experi- 
ence, you  probably  have  not  thought  very  closely 
about  business  conditions.  Now  and  then,  even 
very  large  and  experienced  houses  get  caught  guess- 
ing when  they  should  know.  Many  concerns  after 
the  war  continued  to  expand  plants  and  operations 

19 


when  the  "signs  of  the  times"  should  have  indicated 
to  them  need  for  conservatism. 

Foresight      A  S  a  matter  of  fact  it  is  not  only  the 
Pay8  JL\.  large  houses  that  need  to  know 

about  impending  business  changes.  Ev- 
ery business  house  is  concerned,  and  every  ambi- 
tious employe  with  it.  You,  yourself,  whatever 
your  occupation  or  position,  cannot  help  being  in 
some  way  affected  by  the  future  course  of  prices, 
wages  and  profits.  If  you  are  a  manufacturer,  you 
want  to  know  the  trend  of  business  before  placing 
extensive  orders  for  raw  material,  increasing  your 
factory  facilities,  taking  on  new  help,  accepting 
business  for  future  deliveries  at  a  fixed  price,  bor- 
rowing extensively,  or  making  wage  contracts.  If 
you  do  not  realize,  for  example,  when  business  is 
about  to  slow  down,  as  it  began  to  slow  down  in 
1920,  then  you  will  run  the  risk  of  making  a  serious 
mistake. 


At  such  times  few  people  can  give  you  dependable 
news  or  advice.  Most  of  them  will  not.  For  one 
thing,  it  is  not  easy  to  forecast  events  from  their 
early  symptoms.  When  the  first  signs  of  a  business 
depression  appear,  responsible  persons  hesitate  to 
speak  out.  They  may  be  afraid  of  precipitating 
the  crisis.  They  may  want  to  put  their  own  affairs 
in  order  before  many  people  know  and  it  is  too  late. 
They  may  want  to  take  advantage  of  their  advance 
knowledge  by  selling  "short"  in  the  stock  market. 
You  cannot  depend  upon  the  newspapers  to  warn 
you.  Depression  is  bad  for  them,  too;  it  means  a 

20 


loss  of  advertising.  They  will  present  the  bright 
side  of  things  up  to  the  last  moment. 

What  the  average  man  thinks  about  conditions  of 
course  amounts  to  very  little.  The  mass  of  the 
public,  including  many  business  men,  are  always  in 
the  dark  as  to  coming  events.  Always,  at  the  very 
moment  when  business  is  going  its  fastest  pace  and 
it  is  manifest  to  every  thoughtful  observer  that  it 
cannot  hold  it  long  and  that  collapse  is  near,  always 
at  that  very  moment  people  in  general  are  surest  of 
prosperity.  It  is  visibly  there  all  around  them  and 
they  simply  cannot  help  believing  the  evidence  of 
their  eyes. 

If  you  are  a  merchant,  your  case  is  much  the  same 
as  if  you  were  a  manufacturer.  Instead  of  buying 
raw  material,  you  buy  merchandise.  Instead  of 
wishing  to  enlarge  your  factory,  you  may  wish  to 
enlarge  your  store.  You  have  borrowing  problems, 
salary  problems,  employment  problems.  If  you  do 
not  know  what  is  likely  to  happen  within  the  next 
few  months  or  the  year,  it  is  more  than  possible 
that  you  may  make  a  disastrous  decision. 

Suppose,  instead,  you  are  an  employe.  Would  you 
leave  an  old  house  that  was  firmly  established  and 
go  with  another  company  that  might  not  stand  the 
strain,  if  you  knew  that  hard  times  were  coming? 
Would  you  go  into  business  for  yourself  at  such  a 
time?  Would  you  expect  a  large  salary  increase 
when  your  house  might  find  it  cheaper  to  dispense 
with  your  services,  or  would  you  bide  your  time? 
You  see,  it  makes  a  difference.  And  that  is  entirely 

21 


aside  from  the  fact  that  a  knowledge  of  business 
conditions  is  executive  knowledge,  very  valuable 
to  have. 

The  same  considerations  apply  if  you  are  a  con- 
tractor, a  professional  man,  a  home  builder,  an 
investor,  anybody,  in  short,  who  has  to  plan  ahead 
and  calculate  his  chances. 

It  is  just  as  true,  too,  the  other  way  around — when 
prosperity  is  headed  in  this  direction  instead  of 
being  about  to  depart.  Only  in  that  case,  instead 
of  losing  money  outright  by  neglecting  to  prepare 
yourself,  you  only  fail  to  make  it. 

When,  however,  you  know  how  to  read  the  signs  of 
the  times,  then,  whether  you  are  a  manufacturer,  a 
merchant,  a  doctor,  a  lawyer,  an  employe,  or  an 
investor,  you  buy  while  prices  are  still  low  and  sell 
while  they  are  still  high,  build  or  not,  borrow  or  not, 
expand  or  not,  according  to  what  you  know  of  the 
tendencies. 

The  "VT'CHJ  can  gain  some  idea  as  to  how 

business  J_  this  knowledge  is  secured,  if  you  do 
cycle  not  airea(}y  know  it,  by  realizing  that 

certain  fundamental  changes  in  business 
repeat  themselves  every  few  years.  They  produce 
what  is  called  the  business  cycle.  The  cycle  begins 
with  a  period  of  trade  revival,  culminates  in  a  crisis, 
and  ends  with  a  period  of  depression.  It  may  be 
divi'ded  into  four  periods : 

First  period:  Revival  of  business  from  a  pre- 
vious period  of  depression.  Easy  credits ; 
rising  prices ;  optimism, 

22 


Second  period :  Prosperity.  High  prices ;  strikes 
for  higher  wages;  inefficiency;  excessive 
borrowing. 

Third  period :  Liquidation.  Credit  scarce ;  dras- 
tic slump  in  wholesale  prices;  numerous 
failures;  pessimism. 

Fourth  period:  Readjustment.  Wages  and  re- 
tail prices  lowered;  increase  in  efficiency; 
debts  paid  by  economy  and  retrenchment. 

These  periods  are  not  always  distinct.  The  symp- 
toms may  be  mixed.  Still  it  is  generally  possible 
for  a  trained  observer  to  pick  up  the  significant 
signs  and  from  them  learn  how  to  steer  his  course. 
The  task  is  made  easier  for  the  reader  of  the  Finan- 
cial and  Trade  Review  by  the  monthly  publication 
in  it  of  the  Institute  Cycle  Chart,  which  gives  a 
graphic  presentation  of  the  trend  of  general  busi- 
ness conditions,  of  the  stock  market  and  of  the  sup- 
ply of  loanable  funds.  The  first  is  an  index  of  pub- 
lic spending,  or,  what  amounts  to  the  same  thing, 
the  current  total  income  of  the  people.  The  rela- 
tive amount  of  loanable  funds,  on  the  other  hand, 
is  an  index  of  future  business  operations,  inasmuch 
as  business  expansion  uniformly  depends  upon  the 
availability  of  liquid  capital.  The  Cycle  Chart 
would  be  illuminating  even  without  a  knowledge  of 
all  of  the  important  various  elements  that  enter  into 
the  situation.  With  both  sets  of  facts  you  are  armed 
against  avoidable  disaster  and  ready  for  profit- 
making  initiative. 

23 


Both  sets  are  covered  each  month  in  the  two  pub- 
lications and  the  chart  is  published  in  one  of  them. 

The  two  publications  differ  somewhat  in  character. 
The  Monthly  Letter  analyzes  general  business  con- 
ditions. It  shows  diagrams  and  tables  of  current 
prices  that  serve  as  "business  barometers."  The 
Financial  and  Trade  Review  discusses  commodi- 
ties, investments  and  foreign  trade  in  more  or  less 
detail.  The  Letter  contains  only  four  pages  and 
may  be  read  in  twenty  or  thirty  minutes.  You 
should  make  it  a  point  to  read  it  each  month  from 
beginning  to  end.  The  Review  has  eight  pages,  and 
you  may  wish  to  read  thru  carefully  only  such  parts 
as  directly  affect  you. 


Service 

Character      TVfO    man    can    read    the    MODERN 
of  the  11    BUSINESS  COURSE  and  SERVICE 

Service  without  many  questions  arising  in  his 

mind  which  he  will  want  answered. 
You  will  have  that  experience.  Statements  will  be 
made  in  the  Texts  and  pamphlets  which  you  would 
like  to  see  amplified.  Paragraphs  here  and  there 
will  not  be  clear.  Conclusions  will  now  and  then 
be  drawn  with  which  you  do  not  at  first  agree,  and 
facts  will  be  reported  whose  authenticity  you  may 
doubt.  You  are  at  liberty  to  submit  as  many  ques- 
tions on  these  and  similar  topics  as  you  see  fit,  and 
the  Institute  will  answer  them  fully  and  authorita- 
tively. Following  this  line  of  inquiry  along  the 
paths  of  your  own  interest  and  from  your  own 
point  of  view  will  put  you  in  possession  of  a  wealth 

24 


of  information  in  addition  to  what  is  open  to  you 
in  the  Course  itself. 

Again,  there  may  be  a  subject  on  which  you  will 
wish  to  do  collateral  reading.  We  would  not  en- 
courage your  doing  this  while  you  are  following  the 
Course.  Your  interests  will  almost  certainly  be 
best  served  by  going  straight  thru  the  appointed 
readings  without  turning  to  left  or  right  and  thus, 
in  defiance  of  all  obstacles  and  temptations,  acquir- 
ing that  all-'round,  executive  type  of  knowledge  and 
training  which  is  the  surest  guarantee  of  excep- 
tional success  in  business. 

An  occasion  may  arise,  however,  when  you  will 
find  it  necessary  to  enlarge  your  knowledge  on  some 
special  subject,  without,  of  course,  sacrificing  your 
regular  reading.  In  that  case  we  shall,  on  your 
request,  furnish  you  with  a  bibliography  of  the  sub- 
ject, the  name  of  one  book,  two  or  a  dozen,  as  you 
require. 

After  you  have  finished  the  Course,  and  the  ques- 
tion as  to  the  advisability  of  outside  reading  is  no 
longer  an  important  one,  you  will  undoubtedly  want 
to  resume  your  special  studies.  A  bibliography  on 
these  subjects  will  then  be  of  great  advantage.  It 
is  consequently  a  good  idea  for  you  to  look  ahead 
and  anticipate  the  expiration  of  the  two-year  period 
of  service  by  securing  the  list  of  special  books 
which  you  probably  will  wish  to  read  later. 

You  will  understand,  of  course,  that  the  right  to  ask 
questions  and  receive  explanations  is  not  confined  to 
the  subject  on  which  you  happen  to  be  doing  as- 

25 


signed  reading.  During  the  term  of  enrolment  you 
may  ask  questions  on  any  subject  treated  in  the 
Course.  You  may  ask  about  statements  made  in 
the  Talks,  Lectures,  Problems,  Reports,  Monthly 
Letters,  Financial  and  Trade  Review  as  well  as 
those  in  the  Texts. 

To  r^BVIOUSLY    the    principles    or 

explain  \_s    methods  most  vitally  interesting 

principles  to  you  will  be  those  you  wish  to  apply 
to  your  own  business.  These  will  be 
the  ones  on  which  you  will  ask  additional  light. 
When  you  so  ask,  let  the  details  of  the  special  prob- 
lem you  have  in  mind  be  included,  not  in  order  that, 
we  may  advise  you  what  to  do,  but  in  order  that, 
knowing  just  what  your  special  difficulty  is,  we  may 
explain  better  the  principles  that  are  involved  in  its 
solution. 

This  attitude  is  what  you  would  naturally  expect  of 
us.  It  is,  of  course,  the  only  one  that  should  be 
taken.  In  matters  of  business,  off-hand  advice  is 
as  dangerous  as  it  is  easy  to  give.  Many  facts  and 
much  study  by  one  actually  on  the  ground  are  gener- 
ally needed  to  arrive  at  sound  conclusions.  You 
might,  for  example,  ask  us  to  suggest  a  cost-finding 
system  for  your  plant,  failing  to  realize  that  any 
recommendation  which  was  not  based  on,  say,  at 
least  a  month's  investigation  of  conditions  in  the 
plant  would  possess  little  or  no  value.  That  is  what 
we  would  have  to  tell  you.  Like  questions  would  be 
treated  in  a  similar  way.  To  pass  intelligently  upon 
any  sales  and  advertising  plan  that  you  might  sub- 
mit would  require  more  information  concerning  the 

26 


market,  the  trade  and  its  customs,  the  technicalities 
of  the  business  and  your  concern's  condition  than 
you  could  readily  supply  us.  In  the  same  way, 
the  adequacy  to  your  needs  of  a  given  system  of 
accounting  would  be  something  that  we  would  not 
care  to  venture  an  opinion  upon  without  having  an 
intimate  knowledge  of  those  needs. 

When,  therefore,  we  invite  you  to  tell  us  the  main 
facts  of  the  business  problem  which  you  have  in 
mind  when  asking  about  the  specific  application  of 
some  fundamental  principle,  we  do  so  believing  that 
the  possession  of  the  facts  will  enable  us  to  give 
you  a  clearer  explanation  than  we  could  give  with- 
out it.  With  our  explanation  at  hand  you  will  be 
ready  to  determine  for  yourself,  as  no  one  else  can 
do,  just  what  application  to  make.  To  help  you 
help  yourself,  and  eventually  stand  independent  of 
all  assistance  of  this  kind,  is  really  the  best  service 
that  could  possibly  be  given  you. 

To  be  sure,  you  may  propose  some  problem  con- 
cerning which  the  specialists  in  the  Service  Depart- 
ment may  be  able  to  offer  helpful  suggestions  and 
advice.  Nevertheless,  as  the  nature  of  your  ques- 
tions cannot  be  foreseen,  concrete  answers  with 
advice  and  suggestions  cannot  be  promised.  If  the 
Institute  departs  from  the  strict  letter  of  its  under- 
taking, it  will  be  only  as  a  matter  of  policy,  and  not 
as  a  matter  of  contract. 

Characteristic  "O  UT  let  us  have  a  few  practical 
questions  _O  illustrations  of  what  the  Ser- 

vice actually  is,  in  practice. 
One  type  of  inquiries  received  by  the  Service  De- 

27 


partment  relates  to  the  Text.  A  subscriber  writes : 
"Will  you  please  explain  more  fully  for  me  the 
theory  of  money  and  prices  as  set  forth  in  the 
Text  on  Economics  ?"  The  explanation  there  given 
would  suffice  for  most  readers,  but  this  subscriber 
is  not  sure  that  he  understands  it.  So  one  of  the 
specialists  on  economics  in  the  Department  writes 
him  a  letter  giving  more  detailed  information. 

Another  subscriber  says:  "I  cannot  fully  under- 
stand the  theory  of  land  rent  in  connection  with 
the  cost  of  production  of  goods."  As  in  the  other 
case,  most  of  the  readers  of  the  Course  understand. 
But  here  and  there  are  a  few  who  want  the  explana- 
tion in  greater  detail,  and  it  is  given. 

Again,  the  inquiry  may  have  to  do  with  a  Review 
question  at  the  end  of  one  of  the  chapters.  The 
subscriber  may  ask:  "What  is  the  correct  answer 
to  the  fourth  Review  question  at  the  end  of  Chap- 
ter 6,  Volume  3?"  And  the  answer  is  given. 

Other  kinds  of  inquiries  are  made  with  respect  to 
specific  business  problems.  A  subscriber  writes: 
"I  am  planning  to  incorporate  a  company  with  a 
capitalization  of  $50,000  to  sell  automobile  acces- 
sories. What  are  the  successive  steps  necessary  in 
forming  a  new  corporation  of  this  kind?"  The  in- 
formation required  is  an  amplification  of  that  given 
in  the  Text  and  so  may  be  promptly  furnished. 

A  subscriber  says:  "We  are  in  the  warehousing 
business  and  are  planning  a  new  cost  system.  What 
basis  would  you  suggest  for  the  proper  distribution 
of  our  overhead?"  What  is  wanted  is  not  "ideas" 

28 


for  the  improvement  of  the  business,  but  a  basis 
or  principle  for  allocating  costs,  and  this  can  be 
furnished. 

A  third  class  of  inquiries  is  for  statistical  data  or 
other  substantial  information.  "What  is  the  ratio 
of  advertising  expense  to  total  sales  in  the  average 
department  store?"  is  asked  and  answered.  "How 
much  of  the  world's  total  output  of  cotton  is  pro- 
duced by  the  United  States?"  can  be  answered  out 
of  available  statistics.  "I  would  like  to  secure  a 
list  of  the  manufacturers  of  hairpins  in  the  United 
States,"  is  another  inquiry.  "Can  you  give  it  or 
refer  me  to  a  source  of  information?"  This  ques- 
tion is  answered.  Information  of  the  sort  cannot 
always  be  obtained  and  cannot  be  promised  as  part 
of  the  Service,  but  an  attempt  is  always  made 
to  secure  it  when  the  research  or  investigation 
required  does  not  involve  unreasonable  time  or 
expense. 

Last  come  the  questions  in  regard  to  current  hap- 
penings. One  subscriber  wishes  to  know  the  "causes 
of  the  present  slump  in  the  ribbon  market?"  An- 
other asks :  "Why  is  there  so  much  unemployment 
and  why  have  so  many  manufacturers  been  obliged 
to  close  their  plants  ?"  Still  a  third  inquires :  "At 
approximately  what  stage  of  the  'business  cycle*  are 
we  now  ?"  All  these  can  be  answered  because  they 
relate  to  fundamental  principles  or  current  trade  or 
financial  tendencies,  and  the  information  for  the 
proper  answers  is  available  either  in  our  Service 
Department  or  in  our  Bureau  of  Business  Condi- 
tions. 

29 


The  Department  is  organized  under  a  Director  of 
Service  with  a  corps  of  staff  secretaries  and  assist- 
ants specializing  in  the  various  phases  of  business, 
Economics,  Production,  Marketing,  and  Finance 
and  Accounting.  Each  of  these  men  has  had  special 
training  and  experience  fitting  him  to  deal  capably 
with  questions  concerning  his  field. 

Why  You  Are  Reading 

Product  npHE  preceding  description  of  the 
of  .  JL  MODERN  BUSINESS  COURSE  and  SER- 

necessity        VICE  has  demonstrated  to  you  some  of 
its  possibilities  for  help.    You  will  ap- 
preciate this  more  fully  when  you  understand  the 
conditions  that  produced  the  Course  and  Service. 

Until  within  the  last  few  years  most  merchants  and 
manufacturers  had  no  need  to  look  far  beyond  their 
own  localities.  Nearly  all  business  was  local  or,  at 
most,  sectional  and  was  little  affected  by  ordinary 
outside  conditions.  The  public's  demand  for  goods 
usually  exceeded  the  supply  of  them.  Competition, 
in  consequence,  was  rudimentary,  as  compared  with 
its  present  state.  Almost  any  shrewd  and  energetic 
man  could  make  his  mark  in  practical  affairs  with- 
out knowing  very  much  about  business  in  general. 

This  simpler  mode  has  been  changed  by  the  ex- 
traordinary developments  in  manufacturing,  trans- 
portation, communication,  banking  and  credit  that 
have  been  taking  place  during  the  last  half  century. 
Nowadays,  except  during  such  abnormal  conditions 
as  those  occasioned  by  the  Great  War,  goods  can 
almost  always  be  produced  as  fast  as  they  can 

30 


be  marketed.  Competition  is  a  fact  of  immense 
and  ever-increasing  importance.  It  is  no  longer  on 
a  local  scale.  Every  business  man,  no  matter  how 
remote  he  may  be  from  the  large  centers  of  pop- 
ulation and  affairs,  is  influenced  in  one  way  or 
another  by  what  goes  on  in  these  and  other  com- 
munities. War,  legislation,  industrial  disputes,  po- 
litical and  social  movements,  all  have  far-reaching 
effects.  Great  inventions,  like  the  telephone  and 
automobile,  and  great  technical  discoveries,  like 
those  of  the  synthetic  dyes,  start  revolutions  in 
industry.  Every  new  and  important  labor-saving 
method  that  originates  in  one  line  spreads  thru  all ; 
witness  advertising,  sales  training,  accounting,  sci- 
entific management,  office  systems,  and,  to  take  our 
own  instance,  executive  training. 

Business,  in  short,  is  vastly  more  complex  and  haz- 
ardous than  ever  before  and  it  is  growing  ever  more 
so.  In  order,  then,  to  be  sure  of  making  a  place 
in  the  world  and,  what  is  no  less  important,  hold- 
ing it,  a  man  must  know  business  fundamentals  and 
keep  himself  constantly  informed  as  to  all  impor- 
tant developments. 

This  requires  a  good  deal  of  effort,  no  doubt,  but 
on  the  other  hand,  as  you  have  already  realized, 
there  are  unusual  compensations  in  the  circum- 
stance. The  very  fact  of  there  being  difficulties 
puts  a  premium  on  the  knowledge  that  will  van- 
quish them.  What  are  handicaps  to  the  uninformed 
and  untrained  become  shining  opportunities  for 
those  who  are  prepared.  Age,  place,  position,  make 
little  difference.  One  big  idea  lifts  a  young  man 

31 


out  of  a  clerkship  into  an  executive's  chair.  An- 
other idea  puts  a  small  business  on  the  way  to  in- 
dustrial leadership.  Still  another  resurrects  an  old, 
decadent  house  and  breathes  into  it  a  new  spirit  of 
enterprise.  Ideas  are  the  raw  material  of  success, 
and  knowledge  is  the  source  of  supply. 

How  TDEAS  are,  of  course,  only  part  of 

business  _I_  the  benefits  to  be  derived  from 
knowledge  sound  business  knowledge.  Even  the 
pays  most  spectacular  and  revolutionary 

ideas  cannot  express  themselves;  they 
need  help.  Knowledge  provides  the  means.  Spe- 
cifically, it  will  give  you,  according  to  your  zeal  in 
acquiring  it 

— better  judgment  as  to  men  and  affairs 

— greater  ability  to  plan  effectively 

— increased  confidence  in  guiding  big  deals 

— power  to  make  quicker,  more  accurate  decisions 

— greater  skill  in  handling  men 

— more  complete  insurance  against  serious  mis- 
takes, and,  last, 

— more  leisure  for  recreation  and  constructive 
thought. 

The  inadequacy  of  so-called  "personal"  experience 
as  the  sole  or  chief  means  of  securing  knowledge 
has  been  assumed.  It  is  indeed  almost  obvious. 
There  is  too  much  to  learn  and  too  little  time  for 
learning.  It  must  be  acquired  thru  systematic 
measures,  and  for  most  men  the  only  feasible  way 
in  which  this  can  be  done  is  thru  reading. 

32 


Someone  has  well  said,  "The  birthright  of  every 
man  is  the  combined  intelligence  of  his  predecessors." 

Little  fTlWENTY  years  ago  the  litera- 

to  read  J_     ture  of  business  consisted  of 

a  generation  economic  theory  and  a  very  few 
ago  practical  book's  on  special  subjects. 

Most  of  the  field  had  not  been  writ- 
ten about.  Virtually  no  business  instruction  of  a 
higher  type  was  to  be  had. 

The  pioneer  work  in  broader  business  education  was 
done  by  the  University  Schools  of  Commerce.  At 
these  schools,  for  the  first  time  anywhere,  one  could 
learn  the  fundamental  principles  and  current  meth- 
ods of  production,  distribution,  finance  and  ac- 
counting. 

Yet,  at  first,  even  the  Schools  of  Commerce  had 
few  text  books.  The  instruction  was  necessarily 
oral.  The  mass  of  business  men,  not  being  able  or 
willing  to  attend,  were  shut  out  from  their  benefits. 

It  was  to  help  these  men  who  must  learn  the  broader 
and  bigger  things  of  business  by  reading  at  home 
or  else  not  learn  them,  perhaps,  at  all,  that  the 
Alexander  Hamilton  Institute  came  into  existence. 
For  them  it  has  provided  a  reading  course  made  up 
of  information  gleaned  at  first  hand  from  the  field 
of  practical  business,  and  expressed  in  clear  and 
simple  language  suitable  for  the  needs  of  practical, 
busy  men. 


33 


How  to  Read 

More  than  r  I^HE  nature  and  origin  of  the  MOD- 
seeing  A  ERN  BUSINESS  COURSE  and  SERV- 

words  ICE  have  been  explained.     There  re- 

mains only  the  necessity  of  saying  a 
few  words  upon  a  matter  of  hardly  less  importance 
— how  to  read  it.  The  act  of  reading,  as  will  be 
clear  to  you  after  a  moment's  reflection,  is  some- 
thing more  than  just  grasping  the  meaning  of  words. 
Reading,  when  it  is  really  effective,  brings  all  the 
salient  facts  of  the  subject  into  line  with  the  facts 
of  your  own  individual  life.  To  be  able  to  get  the 
most  out  of  your  reading,  you  must  first  know  what 
you  are  reading  for,  you  must  understand  exactly 
what  you  expect  to  make  of  business  and  of  life. 
The  more  clearly  and  definitely  you  picture  the  kind 
of  success  you  want  and  the  more  thoro  your  plans 
are  for  achieving  it,  the  more  certainly  and  com- 
pletely each  subject  will  yield  up  its  secrets  to  you. 

This  is  common  sense.  It  is  only  another  way  of 
saying  that  self-interest  makes  quick  scholars.  Only 
because  you  had  continually  pictured  in  your  mind 
what  you  want  to  accomplish  and  had  realized  what 
steps  were  necessary  to  take  you  to  it  could  you 
have  come  to  the  decision  which  you  have  taken. 
This  constant  use  of  the  imagination,  this  habitual 
thinking,  thinking,  thinking  of  what  you  want  is 
what  makes  you  want  it  so  much.  This  constant 
picturing  of  the  way  to  get  it  is  what  sends  you 
straight  and  fast  along  the  way. 

Now,  in  order  to  make  the  most  of  this  interest  and 
purpose,  which  is  so  tremendous  an  asset  to  you, 

34 


you  should  put  your  reading  on  a  sound,  business 
basis.  You  should  do  it  systematically.  You  should 
do  it  critically.  And  it  goes  without  saying  that 
you  should  do  it  enthusiastically,  with  all  your  heart. 

What  T71OLLOWING  the  assigned  order 

systematic  _T  of  reading  on  schedule  will  be  a 
reading  surer,  easier,  quicker  method  than 

will  do  reading    at    random,    or    reading    in 

some  other  order.  And  it  will  keep 
your  interest  continually  alive  and  increase  it. 
That  is  a  very  vital  consideration. 

System  begins  with  a  plan.  When  will  you  read, 
and  for  how  long  at  a  time?  You  can  not  always 
govern  circumstances,  but  you  can  do  a  lot  to  pre- 
vent them  from  always  governing  you.  Sit  down 
and  analyze  the  way  you  spend  your  days.  How 
much  time  do  you  give  to  this  thing,  how  much  to 
that ;  how  directly  does  either  or  both  lead  to  bigger, 
broader  success?  Don't  deceive  yourself.  Face  the 
facts.  Put  a  dollar-and-cents  valuation  on  your 
time  and  find  out  whether  all  the  things  you  are 
doing  are  worth  doing. 

Visualizing  your  life  problem  in  this  way  you  will 
be  surprised  to  discover  how  many  minutes  and 
hours  you  have  to  spare  for  standard,  constructive 
reading. 

The  next  thing  is  to  lay  out  a  plan.  Arrange  for  a 
stated  and  regular  period.  It  is  much  better  to  read 
half  an  hour  daily  than  three  or  four  hours  Satur- 
day or  Sunday.  It  is  better  also,  generally  speak- 
ing, to  read  the  first  thing  in  the  morning  than  the 

35 


last  thing  at  night.  Whatever  you  determine,  make 
it  your  system.  Budget  and  schedule  it,  with  an 
allowance  for  all  interruptions  and  distractions. 
And  fix  on  a  minimum  that  you  will  do  surely 
rather  than  a  maximum  that  you  will  often  fall 
short  of. 

Read  rilO  make  your  reading  productive, 

critically  J_  you  will  read  not  merely  systemat- 
ically, but  with  an  active,  reflective 
mind.  The  reading  is  for  the  purpose  of  improving 
your  judgment,  increasing  your  grasp  of  business 
methods  and  for  the  other  objects  already  men- 
tioned. Very  well,  then,  read  with  that  thought 
always  before  you.  But  you  are  reading  also  for 
immediate  profit,  when  that  is  possible.  Profit  is 
the  real  acid  test  of  your  ability.  "What  does 
this  point  mean  to  me?  Can  I  use  it  at  once?" 
As  you  read,  think  constantly:  "I  will  get  an  idea 
or  a  bit  of  information  out  of  this  very  page  and 
make  it  mean  dollars  and  cents  or  advancement  in 
my  business  today."  The  ultimate  good  that  you 
are  going  to  receive  in  the  way  of  mental  and  spirit- 
ual growth  should  not  blind  you  to  the  present 
opportunities  that  lie  around  you.  An  example  or 
two  of  the  way  in  which  those  opportunities  grow 
naturally  out  of  contact  with  business  ideas  will 
perhaps  be  helpful  to  you. 

A  young  subscriber  to  the  Course  was  in  charge  of 
a  telephone  exchange  in  Texas.  Something  he  had 
read  in  one  of  the  Text  volumes  led  him  to  suggest 
to  the  management  of  his  company  a  plan  for  esti- 
mating the  available  business  in  each  territory,  and 

36 


getting  it.  The  plan  both  saved  and  made  the  com- 
pany much  money.  In  reward  for  it  the  young  man 
was  taken  up  into  the  home  office  as  the  President's 
assistant  and  given  a  much  larger  salary  than  he 
had  previously  earned. 

Another  subscriber,  located  in  Connecticut,  learned 
one  day  that  the  directors  of  his  company  were  con- 
templating a  certain  business  move  which  seemed 
to  him  shortsighted.  He  ventured  to  suggest  a  dif- 
ferent plan,  involving  a  reorganization  of  the  com- 
pany and  an  increase  in  capitalization.  He  ex- 
plained how  additional  funds  could  be  raised.  The 
directors  adopted  his  plan.  Then  they  asked  him 
what  he  expected  in  the  way  of  remuneration. 
Here  was  a  crucial  moment  for  him.  If  he  had 
been  the  typical  employe  he  might  have  been  unduly 
modest  and  lost  a  part  of  the  respect  he  had 
aroused  in  the  minds  of  the  owners.  He  had,  how- 
ever, the  courage  of  his  knowledge  of  what  such 
service  as  he  had  rendered  was  worth.  He  asked 
for  some  of  the  new  stock  and  a  more  important 
position  in  the  enlarged  company.  He  was  given 
both. 

Knowledge  /~\  PPORTUNITIES  come  only  to 
widens  \J  those  who  recognize  them  and 

the  are  ready  for  them.     In  the  cases 

horizon  mentioned  the  men  made  recommen- 

dations on  matters  outside  of  their 
immediate  work.  To  the  management  that  proved 
both  their  ability  and  their  loyalty.  Generally, 
managements  are  only  too  glad  to  get  practical 

37 


ideas  out  of  their  organizations  and  recognize  the 
talent  so  manifested.  It  is  the  good  fortune  of 
exceptional  workers  that  most  men,  even  some  of 
those  higher  up,  do  not  see  far  beyond  their  depart- 
ments. Often,  therefore,  any  one  with  knowledge 
and  vision  can  see  ways  to  improve  the  prevailing 
methods. 

This  is  why  you  will  want  to  read,  not  only  that 
you  may  get  knowledge  and  increase  your  ability 
and  judgment,  but  also  to  seize  upon  any  ideas  that 
you  can  turn  to  use,  now  and  here,  in  your  own 
business — whether  you  own  it,  or  manage  it,  or  only, 
for  the  present,  make  one  of  the  rank-and-file  in  it. 
Ideas  are  stepping-stones. 


Read  T  AST  of  all,  put  your  heart  as 

enthusiastically  I  J  much  as  your  head  into  the 
reading.  No  matter  where  you 
stand,  aim  higher.  However  interesting  you  find 
this  new  knowledge,  don't  hoard  it.  Put  it  to  work 
everywhere.  Feed  it  into  the  business,  of  course, 
when  you  can,  but  also  dispense  it  to  others.  Frank 
A.  Vanderlip  called  us  a  "nation  of  economic  illiter- 
ates.'1 Never  was  there  a  time  when  sound  busi- 
ness principles  and  methods  are  more  needed. 
Every  man  who  has  them  is  under  obligation  to  the 
community  to  spread  them.  Doing  so  honors  a 
man  in  the  eyes  of  his  friends  and  townsmen.  It 
brings  him  appreciation  and  friendship.  It  rounds 
out  his  life.  It  is  something,  then,  to  be  enthusiastic 
about. 

38 


Four  Things  For  You 

To  sum  up,  the  MODERN  BUSINESS  COURSE  and 
SERVICE  brings  you  four  vital  things : 

First  of  all  there  is  knowledge.  You  cover  the 
whole  range  of  business  and  learn  every  impor- 
tant principle.  You  get  the  essence  of  what  most 
successful  business  men  hitherto  have  acquired  only 
by  long  and  painful  experience.  After  you  have 
read  these  volumes,  the  biggest  executive  in  the 
country  can  tell  you  nothing  fundamentally  new 
about  business,  whatever  advantage  he  may  have 
over  you  in  ability  and  familiarity  with  men  and 
methods.  With  this  knowledge  you  possess  the 
power  to  plan  more  effectively.  You  are  able  to 
handle  bigger  things  with  increasing  confidence.  You 
manage  men  with  greater  ease  and  assurance.  You 
can  do  bigger  work,  do  it  faster  and  with  fewer 
mistakes.  That  is  what  the  knowledge  you  get  does 
for  you. 

Then,  second,  you  get  training.  You  learn  to  carry 
whole  series  of  facts  in  your  mind  and  handle  long 
and  involved  arguments  without  difficulty.  Analy- 
sis and  constructive  planning  become  natural  to 
you.  Your  decisions,  in  consequence,  are  rapid  and 
sound.  Training  makes  your  whole  work  easier 
and  opens  up  new  avenues  of  possibility. 

Third,  as  you  read  the  Course,  vision  comes  to  you. 
No  matter  where  you  stand  now,  you  will  see  far- 
ther by  and  by.  If  today  you  are  conscious  of  the 
opportunity  that  surrounds  you,  you  may  be  sure  it 
is  as  nothing  in  comparison  to  what  will  appear 

39 


when  you  observe  with  the  added  experience  of 
literally  thousands  of  successful  business  men. 

If,  on  the  other  hand,  your  present  outlook  is  re- 
stricted, the  Course  will  bring  to  you  a  full  vision 
of  the  world  of  opportunity. 

And,  last  of  all,  from  the  reading  you  get  the  power 
to  enjoy  business.  It  becomes  for  you  as  for  every 
trained,  red-blooded  man  the  greatest,  the  most  ab- 
sorbing of  all  games.  The  stakes  are  high,  the  haz- 
ard is  great.  But  the  play,  after  you  are  once  out 
of  the  routine  grind,  is  never  twice  alike.  Every- 
thing is  kaleidoscopic.  Competition  and  the  tidal 
ebb  and  flow  of  business  are  always  introducing 
unexpected  and  fascinating  complications. 

This  thrill  of  the  unexpected  is  only  half  of  the 
game.  The  other  half  is  the  joy  of  mastery.  To 
read  the  signs  of  the  times,  to  foresee  tendencies, 
and  trim  your  course  so  as  to  avoid  danger  and 
seize  upon  some  great  advantage  is  what  finally 
makes  it  worth  while  to  a  man.  This  is  the  big 
appeal  for  every  executive.  It  is  the  reason 
so  many  hold  on  up  to  the  last  moment  and  die  in 
harness  rather  than  rust  out  in  idle  comfort.  Money 
does  not  explain  it.  It  is  the  game. 

Knowledge,  training,  vision  and  the  enjoyment  of 
your  life  work — these  are  the  things  you  can  have 
at  the  price  of  systematic,  intelligent  and  interested 
reading. 

And,  now,  prosperity  to  your  purpose ! 

40 


TECS  BOOK  IS  DTJE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
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Binder 

Gaylord  Bros..  Inc.  ] 

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T.  M.  Reg.  U.S.  Pat.  Off.  ! 


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